central ward

Excerpt from the stenographic transcript of Henry Robinson’s comments to the Central Planning Board on June 14, 1967 during the “blight hearings.” These public hearings were held to determine if areas in the Central Ward were “blighted” so that the lands could be taken by eminent domain for the construction of the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry. — Credit: Newark Public Library

Excerpt from the stenographic transcript of Frances Henry’s comments to the Central Planning Board on June 22, 1967 during the “blight hearings.” These public hearings were held to determine if areas in the Central Ward were “blighted” so that the lands could be taken by eminent domain for the construction of the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry. — Credit: Newark Public Library

Excerpt from the stenographic transcript of Donald Tucker’s comments to the Central Planning Board on June 22, 1967 during the “blight hearings.” These public hearings were held to determine if areas in the Central Ward were “blighted” so that the lands could be taken by eminent domain for the construction of the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry. — Credit: Newark Public Library

Excerpt from the stenographic transcript of Clinton Bey’s comments to the Central Planning Board on June 29, 1967 during the “blight hearings.” These public hearings were held to determine if areas in the Central Ward were “blighted” so that the lands could be taken by eminent domain for the construction of the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry. — Credit: Newark Public Library

Excerpt from the stenographic transcript of Aubrey Jones’ comments to the Central Planning Board on June 22, 1967 during the “blight hearings.” These public hearings were held to determine if areas in the Central Ward were “blighted” so that the lands could be taken by eminent domain for the construction of the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry. — Credit: Newark Public Library

Excerpt from the stenographic transcript of Aubrey Jones’ comments to the Central Planning Board on June 22, 1967 during the “blight hearings.” These public hearings were held to determine if areas in the Central Ward were “blighted” so that the lands could be taken by eminent domain for the construction of the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry. — Credit: Newark Public Library

Instructional leaflet from an unnamed “veteran of Newark’s blight wars of the 1950’s and 1960’s” explaining how blight hearings work and offering suggestions for community opposition to a blight declaration. — Credit: Newark Public Library

Article from the New York Amsterdam News on September 10, 1966, quoting from “street-rally” speeches given by Stokely Carmichael in Newark in 1966. Carmichael, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at the time, had gained national attention for popularizing the political slogan of “Black Power” in June 1966 in Mississippi. — Credit: Proquest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News

Memo from William Mercer, coordinator of the Business Industrial Coordinating Committee (BICC) to the BICC Executive Committee, in which he describes the City of Newark as “ready to explode.” Mercer cites some of the causes of heightened tension, including: the Medical School fight, Parker-Callaghan dispute, and the National Black Power Conference planned for July. — Credit: Newark Public Library